Lessons Learned from Endodontic Follow-Ups

Session Description:

Evidenced-based dentistry places significant emphasis on patient preferences. It has been shown that patients desire a dentition that is pain-free, functional, and esthetically pleasing for a reasonable cost. When given the choice of tooth retention or tooth extraction and replacement with an implant, patients report that they prefer to retain the natural tooth provided that the tooth survival rate would be comparable to that of the implant. The current best evidence in endodontic outcome studies report a very favorable success rate for endodontic treatment, whether measured by disease resolution or tooth retention. It has also been shown that the primary cause of loss of endodontically treated teeth is for non-endodontic reasons such as non-restorable caries, prosthetic failure, periodontal disease, and root fracture. Therefore, a discussion of the long-term prognosis of endodontically treated teeth should address not only the resolution of existing periapical disease and prevention of further periapical disease, but also the long-term retention of the tooth.

Session Objectives:

1. Address the causes of endodontic tooth loss
2. Review the relevance of the endodontic extraction literature
3. Investigate which endodontically treated teeth are more likely to survive

Expect to Learn:

1. Address the primary causes for the extraction of endodontically treated teeth
2. Address the relevance of the most quoted “endodontic extraction” literature
3. Address which endodontically treated teeth are more likely to survive long-term

Prerequisites:

None

Course Type: Lecture